A South African woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for selling her 6-year-old daughter. Kelly Smith was sentenced by a judge alongside two others, her boyfriend and another man, who also received life sentences. All three were convicted earlier this month on kidnapping and human trafficking charges. Smith’s daughter, Joshlin, went missing in February 2024 when she was 6, sparking a nationwide hunt by police in South Africa. She has still not been found. Smith, her partner Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life terms for human trafficking and 10 years each for kidnapping. Their sentences were read out by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports center in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay.

Israel has approved the construction of 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria.

President Donald Trump issued a series of pardons on Wednesday, awarding them to a former New York congressman, a Connecticut governor, a rapper known as “NBA YoungBoy,” a labor union leader and a onetime Army officer who flouted safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s actions mixed his willingness to pardon prominent Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends with the influence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered her a pardon in 2020. He commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a former Chicago gang leader serving a life sentence at a supermax prison in Colorado.

Palestinians report that IDF troops planted an Israeli flag on the roof of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque, in the heart of the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank.

The Central Rabbinical Congress (CRC) has issued a notice regarding the consumption of Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheeses, particularly aged varieties. According to the CRC, these cheeses are classified as “hard cheese” under halachic guidelines, requiring a 4-6 hour waiting period before meat can be consumed. This applies when enjoying dairy dishes and delicacies that include these cheeses.

The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 10% in 2024 as the stock market enjoyed another banner year and corporate profits rose sharply. Many companies have heeded calls from shareholders to tie CEO compensation more closely to performance. As a result, a large proportion of pay packages consist of stock awards, which the CEO often can’t cash in for years, if at all, unless the company meets certain targets, typically a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits.

A Jewish-owned business in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London was vandalized overnight in an of antisemitism cloaked in pro-Palestinian activism. According to witnesses and security footage, a group of masked individuals shattered the storefront’s windows and splashed red paint across the exterior of the building—an act meant to symbolize the blood of Palestinians. The attackers also left behind graffiti referencing the British government’s ties with Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company. However, the business in question has no known with Elbit or with UK defense contracts, sources confirmed to YWN. “This was not a protest. This was targeted hate,” said a local Jewish community representative.

Homeland Security raided a transnational fraud ring that stole $30m in Small Business loans & Covid relief meant for taxpaying Americans.

Chananel Gez, the husband of Tzeela Gez hy”d and father of Ravid Chaim hy”d, speaks at the levaya of his son. “We are unstoppable, even when our hearts are broken” he says in English. “Do not mess with the Jewish people, because you will regret it!”

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte: “People couldn’t, for the last four years, afford a home. The American Dream is what America is all about — and we’re going to restore the American Dream under President Trump.